For the record - ex-cadet, now in full time employment.
I would echo One Post Only's comments about the request for assistance at these recruitment days. I considered it for a very short time and then thought to myself "actually, what would I say?!" I'm all for doing one's bit when it's appropriate - I loved getting involved when I was training and after all, the course is very good and for me did exactly what it advertised it would do. But things are different now than they were then, and bursting out of the bubble without a job and with a lot of debt opens your eyes to the realities of the situation a bit more.
It matters not whether some people think now is a good time to start training or not - nobody has a crystal ball and can see exactly what is going to happen in 18 months' or 2 years' time. I would only be able to draw on my past experience. How could I possibly stand there, while there is growing talk of a number of cadets facing impending bankruptcy, a move towards flexible (i.e. temporary) contracts and, in the past few years, a massive increase of cadets shortly before a big recession resulting in a massive backlog to clear, and look prospective trainees and their parents in the eye and tell them that now is a great time to start training?! How would I feel when I saw them desperately scraping round for a job and trying to stave off hungry creditors, as some are doing now, after I had attended one of these days with my nice uniform and big smile, and told them about how wonderful the job is? This is before I factor in my opinion about it being completely and utterly irresponsible to stake someone's house on a job requiring repayments of £1k/month plus, for the best part of a decade, before you even start to consider your normal cost of living, in one of the most volatile and sensitive industries on the planet. (Yes, my loan was unsecured, and if I was starting now and this was still the case, I'd still be highly dubious.)
Plus, I'd want more than 50 measly quid for my time when the company stand to make many times more that from whichever starry-eyed wannabes think my airline uniform looks cool.